


Monsters and Men

by darkling59



Series: Annals of the Incomplete [39]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cid's language is offensive, Creature Fic, hybrid Vincent, warning: swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-18 01:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3550520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkling59/pseuds/darkling59
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Cid is strongarmed into hunting down a dragon that's been making a nuisance of itself, he encounters something far more interesting...something that might have once been human.</p><p>(Hybrid Vincent)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monsters and Men

Cid had originally dropped by the tiny village to restock on supplies but, as a ‘hero to Gaia’ had been roped into helping destroy a dragon that seemed to be terrorizing the locals. More specifically, a young woman who had gone missing while out in the woods. Cid always was a sucker for a good sob story (not to mention a hefty reward). Unfortunately, unlike Cid, the rest of the village had a healthy sense of survival.

So here he was, all alone with only his spear for company, trying to corner a dragon. He’d found the tracks easily, seeing as they were about three feet long. For some reason, it seemed to be walking rather than flying.

For a moment he considered calling Cloud as he stared at the giant prints. It was a big ‘un alright. He ached for a cigarette but knew that lighting up here could give his position away and, while his survival instincts might be shot, he wasn’t suicidal.

"I must be out of my fucking mind. How the hell am I supposed to kill a dragon!?"

An enraged roar dragged him from his thoughts, causing him to tighten his grip on the spear.

“The hell was that?”

Another bellow, slightly closer, allowed him to home in on the sound. He took off running, attempting to be quiet but knowing he was anything but.

As he grew closer to the origin, he began to feel the vibrations in the ground and hear the deep growls and snarls of battle. Somehow, something was fighting the dragon. A mercenary, maybe? Dragons had no natural enemies...it was possible a mako beast could be responsible but Cid really, really didn’t want to consider that. Maybe the dragon was hunting?

He broke the tree line into the circular clearing where the battle was taking place and stopped dead, mouth dropping open in shock.

The dragon stood on all fours in the center of the clearing, head lowered and obviously panting. It was facing away from Cid but he could still see the massive, bloody wounds decorating its thick hide. It actually seemed to missing bits of its wings and tail.

Whatever it was fighting, the dragon was losing.

Cid craned his neck, trying to get a glimpse of the horrific monster that must be responsible but couldn’t see anything. It would have to be massive but what-

A blur of color caught the corner of his eye but he didn’t quite turn quickly enough to see the death blow, or its instigator. The dragon reared back with a scream, flapping ruined wings in a last bid of defiance, then fell backwards with a massive ‘whump’, making the ground shake.

“Holy _shit_.”

It had landed on its right side with its back facing him so his view of the clearing was obstructed.

For a long moment, nothing moved. Cid stood still as death, listening for any sign of the victor. It could still be a person, maybe with a triple sword, but he knew that was probably a vain hope. Those marks looked like they’d been made by claws. And the only thing that could possibly have claws that destructive was a mako monster.

He crept forward slowly, fist gripping his spear so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Hopefully, the creature would be dead or so badly wounded from the fight that he could finish it off quickly. The last thing he wanted to do was leave the townsfolk with an even worse threat.

"That’s it. I’ve had enough of this shit. After this, I am officially retiring. Cloud can kiss my-"

He rounded the beast’s tail, spear at the ready and found…nothing. Its belly had been ripped open, as if to feed, but there was no sign of the massive monster he was sure had been doing the feeding.

“What-!”

The second he spoke, something moved near its head, at near blinding speed, to a more hidden spot behind its limp foreleg.

Something man sized and shaped.

He let out a breath of relief and lowered his spear, loosening his grip.

“Christ, man, I'm glad to see you!”

The figure froze and did not reply. Cid strode forward confidently, trying to get a better look. Not a mako monster after all, thank Gaia. Probably just a mercenary out for the money. Although he had to be extremely skilled to do…that.

“How the fuck did you do that? Those marks look like-.”

A low, dangerous growl cut him off.

He instantly froze, eyes darting around the clearing. Had more predators been drawn by the blood scent?

“Hey man, do you think-?”

Slower than before, but with remarkable grace, the ‘man’ leaped on top of the dragon’s corpse.

Glowing red eyes met Cid’s startled gaze as he took in the wings, horns, claws…

A mako monster. With that glow, it couldn’t be anything else. But it was unlike any he’d ever seen. And since when did they have red eyes?

He swallowed nervously.

“Not a mercenary then, huh?”

The…creature…growled again, baring sharp looking fangs.

“ _Fuck_.”

-

Cid stood absolutely still, trying to decide what to do. If he’d been any closer when it moved…well, he had a very graphic demonstration of what could have happened right in front of him. He shot a quick glance at the huge corpse and swallowed nauseously.

Thankfully, the creature seemed willing to let him make the first attack. Or at least wait to attack.

Maybe it was injured. Maybe he should attack it before it regained its strength. Instinctively, he knew that was a bad idea. Judging by its behavior, it would attack if he so much as twitched.

It was man sized, as he’d thought, and it actually looked a bit like a human in the head and chest area but its arms and legs were those of a monster. They seemed to be covered in purplish grey fur and tipped with…four inch long claws.

Cid swallowed but forced himself not to panic.

The claws on its forepaws were almost straight and looked the longest and sharpest but were oddly mismatched; one set was black while the other gleamed like metal. Black seemed to be the native coloration, going by the hindpaws which had curving black claws, resembling talons (the best comparison he could come up with was to the dragon lying dead beside them, or a massive bird of prey). It balanced on the forepads of its hind legs like a cat or dog. All four limbs were stained with blood.

He could vaguely see a matching tail every now and again as it lashed into sight behind it.

It also had massive black and red wings, no less than twelve feet across, that were ridiculously tattered at the edges. He wondered if it could fly, and found himself hoping it couldn’t. Maybe that would even the playing field a little. Currently they were partially extended and mantled over its head, probably to make himself look bigger like-

Wait.

He stopped and looked more closely at the creature’s posture; the way it was crouched and wary, trying to look bigger for a smaller opponent…

For the first time, he looked it directly in the face (which he’d been avoiding). It looked…well, like a man. There were curving horns on its head, and its ears were long and matched its other limbs in color, but the face and the chest were very recognizable. For some reason it was even wearing clothes; a tattered black shirt and matching pants. The eyes though…they still glowed that bright mako red.

It growled at him when he looked it in the eyes but did not attack. He still didn’t move but neither did it.

Maybe…

Very slowly, and carefully, he reached out and touched the dead dragon, right over the slash where the creature had been eating.

It stayed quiet, wary, watching his every move.

Son of a _bitch_.

The monster that had single handedly mauled a dragon was scared of him!

He broke out in a grin, half from relief and amazement and half from genuine amusement, causing it to growl angrily.

“Alright, alright. See, I’m staying way over here.” He lifted his hands slightly, not dropping his spear but taking his hand off the dragon, and took a step back.

It didn’t react, not even a twitch.

He eyed it for a minute, reassessing the situation. As a mako monster, it still had to be taken out but he did NOT want to get in a fight with something that powerful and if it was scared of humans, it wouldn’t venture into the town.

Watching it carefully, he began to speak.

“I’m Cid.” No reaction. “See, I got a little problem with this situation. The townspeople convinced me to go after the bounty on this dragon.”

It was watching him with a keen, intelligent gaze that made the hair on the back of his neck prickle. It looked so human.

“Now, I could go back and tell them I killed it.” It wasn’t baring its teeth any longer. “but that would be dishonest and I’m pretty sure I’ll have to explain the fucking _giant_ holes in it.”

He took his gaze off the monster to look at the wounds for a minute, then back.

“How the hell did you do that, anyway? You’re practically a midget compared to this thing.” He kicked the corpse, not bothering to keep his motions slow anymore. He knew it was dangerous but the creatures didn’t seem like it was going to attack any time soon.

Looking back, he was somewhat to surprised to find its wings were folded back and its stance was somewhat loosened. It was still watching him though. It actually seemed to be listening.

It has really creepy eyes…

“Or…” He was interested to note that it suddenly tensed up again. “…I could tell them what actually happened.”

It jumped off the dragon.

“ _Fuck!_ ”

Cid swore loudly, jumping backward and bringing his spear forward. It stared down at the spear with apparent disinterest and slight contempt then turned back to the dragon, crouching in front of the belly wound and digging in with its claws.

…Oh. He took a careful step back, still covering it with his spear. Right. Food. Holy _shit_ …

A low grunt startled him out of his thoughts. It was looking at something inside of the dragon with apparent interest. Cid really didn’t want to know what but he didn’t want to turn his back either so…

It reached inside and pulled out…a woman’s shoe?

It took a second for the pilot to realize what he was looking at before he began cussing up a storm and stepped up beside the beast, actually bumping it out of the way, reaching in with his spear and wedging open the stomach.

He stared for a long moment then swore and closed his eyes. The girl was long dead. She’d probably been dead before he landed.

“Shit.”

A low, questioning sound drew his gaze to the creature. It was crouching not three feet away, staring up at him with a blank expression but quizzical eyes.

Cid actually jumped when he realized how close together they were but eyed it suspiciously. It seemed to follow his comments so far…

“She…aw hell. It’s not like I knew her or anything but I was trying to rescue her.” The creature looked at the metal bits of jewelry and non-digestables - all that was left of the woman - for a moment.

“Ya know, you don’t act like any of the mako monsters I’ve met before.” It looked up at him and actually raised an eyebrow.

“You know exactly what I’m saying don’t you?” it kept staring, totally blank.

“Well, shit, c’mon, say something.” He prodded it lightly, teasingly with the butt of his spear. It grunted irritably and flicked its ears back.

“Like I said, I’m Cid Highwind, best damn pilot you’ll find anywhere.” He held out his left hand to shake. The creature looked at it uncertainly, then back up at him. He scowled. “C’mon, you know the drill.”

It blinked then held up its right hand, revealing that it was covered in dragon’s blood.

“Oh.” Cid dropped his hand awkwardly but could have sworn he saw a glint of humor in those red eyes. “Well, you still have to tell me your name.”

It seemed to consider for a moment. Even though Cid was half expecting it, he still got the shock of his life when the deep, slightly raspy voice came from the less than human creature.

“I am Vincent.”

\--

Holy shit. It…he… really could talk. What the hell was he?

“Vincent, eh? So, Vince, what’re you doin’ in these parts?”

“It’s Vincent.”

After a silent moment, Cid rolled his eyes and snorted.

“So, Vincent, what’re you doing here?”

“Hunting.”

He took a long look at the dead dragon.

“And…?”

Bland red gaze.

“...I could really use a smoke.” It took him a second to realize he no longer had to keep his presence a secret, then he flipped out a cig and lit it, breathing in the nicotine with a groan.

He started at a low growl and realized Vincent was watching the practice with…was that disapproval?

He snorted. A monster that cared about his health. Now he’d seen everything.

“Yeah? If you don’t like it then stand somewhere else!”

Vincent merely snorted and returned to the dragon, ripping off meat. To Cid’s surprise, he didn’t seem to be eating it but hording it.

“The townspeople sent you out here after one girl?” His voice was even, and getting smoother as he used it more.

Somewhat startled, Cid grunted and leaned on his weapon, looking up at the sky.

“Guess so. They said it was a mako dragon but doesn’t look like it to me.”

“It was.”

He looked back, startled. “You can tell?”

Vincent blinked then stood and strode over to the dragon’s head. Cid was somewhat surprised to see that he walked on two legs with a human gait, despite the weird feet and tail. It was also the first time he realized the damn critter was taller than he was by a good few inches.

He followed and watched as Vincent pried one of the giant eyes open, revealing a strong mako glow, even after death.

Cid swore loudly, bending down. It was definitely a mako dragon. He was lucky he hadn’t had to fight it; he’d have been killed for sure.

“You killed this thing?”

No response but Cid looked up to find Vincent staring at him expressionlessly but with eyes that were quite clearly saying ‘Obviously’.

How strong _was_ he?

“How’d it even get here? There’s no industry, no Shinra, not even any local mako refineries.” He pretended not to notice how Vincent went rigid when he mentioned Shinra.

“There is a mako leak in an abandoned reactor in the mountains.”

Startled, Cid looked up. He hadn’t actually expected a response.

“A leak? Where?”

A claw extended to gesture at one of the nearer peaks. “There.”

“Well, shit.”

Now he’d have to call the others in. AND fucking Shinra to seal off the leak. He hoped they didn’t send Reno, that little bastard got on his nerves.

Vincent tilted his head slightly and Cid took it for the question it probably wasn’t.

“Looks like I have to call in the cavalry.”

“The cavalry?”

Cid couldn’t help his fingers from tightening on the shaft of his weapon when Vincent tensed and flexed his claws.

“Yeah. Need to plug the damn leak.”

“You are going to call in Shinra.”

The pilot groaned, tightening his grip as surreptitiously as possible at the threat in Vincent’s tone. “I really hope not.”

“But you will.”

Something drew his eyes to the creature’s and they stared for a long moment.

“If I have to.”

In that moment, Cid knew he was closer to death than he’d been at any point after entering the clearing.

-

Suddenly, Vincent’s head snapped back, the abrupt movement startling Cid into bringing his spear forward. However, the creature didn’t attack, merely rotated his ears and stared intently at a point beyond the dragon. Cid looked between Vincent and the distant spot for a moment, then heard the distant sound of voices.

He looked back to Vincent, nonplussed.

“That’ll be the townsfolk, coming to see if I’ve killed it or not.” He scowled and chewed on the end of the cigarette, grumbling about unhelpful idiots. The murmurs petered off in puzzlement as Vincent hunched down, laying his ears and wings flat back and making himself look about half as big in the process.

“…Vince?”

“My name is Vincent.” The correction was half hearted at best as the red eyed man swiveled his ears and darted his gaze around the clearing.

“…Something wrong?”

“…They are coming from all directions.”

“Yeah, they wouldn’t want to give any monster I might be fighting a way to break out. They’d…oh.”

Vincent’s tail had begun lashing at the word ‘monster’ and Cid suddenly understood exactly why he was looking for an escape route.

“Could ya fly away?”

“I would be shot down.”

“…I don’t suppose you could disguise yourself somehow?”

“Not inconspicuously.”

The voices calling his name were no longer so distant. In response, Vincent now looked like he was trying to meld with the ground.

“I’ll try to head them off, maybe you can escape while they’re distracted.”

Vincent looked at him sharply, obviously startled.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you help me?”

Cid looked down in surprise. Sure the other man wasn’t exactly human but he hadn’t done anything worthy of being killed!

“Why not?”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Don’t see as you’ve got much choice.”

Vincent flinched slightly and a nearby shout dragged his attention to the now visible figures.

Cid found himself fixed with that eerie red gaze for a long moment, feeling as if he was being judged.

“Very well.”

Cid snorted.

“Glad to have your approval, your _highness_.” He snapped sarcastically as he turned towards the voices, ready to try drawing them away.

“I am trusting you Highwind.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever."

* * *

**Alternate Ending/crack/blooper:**

I- WHAT THE FUCK!?”

A slight, warm weight settled around Cid's neck like a scarf and he froze, looking back at Vincent frantically to see if it was his doing. But he was, impossibly, gone.

Cid reached up to touch the weight and found…cloth? No, he realized as he examined it further, it was in the shape of cloth but had no other similarities. In fact, it felt leathery, almost like dragon skin or…

_I am trusting you, Highwind._

“Fuck, Vince is that you?” The ‘scarf’, which had the same texture as Vincent’s wings, seemed to pulse in response and he suddenly realized it had a heartbeat.

“That is REALLY FUCKING creepy.” Scarf-Vincent, who was just about large enough to be a very ragged cloak, tightened slightly in apparent displeasure.

“Cid, there you are! You got it!”

“Huh?” He dropped his hand as one of the men from town finally broke into the clearing. “Oh, yeah.”

“It’s huge!”

Cid snorted, leaning on his spear and trying to ignore the heartbeat mere inches from his throat.

“Yeah. Tough mother fucker.” The younger villager stayed back, marveling at the beast’s size from ten feet away. Cid wondered darkly how he would have responded to Vincent’s presence.

The rest of the searchers arrived gradually until there was a crowd of ten or so onlookers, all of them gawking but none willing to come closer than five feet. By then, Cid had almost gotten used to the warm weight around his throat.

**Author's Note:**

> The final segment was inspired by Vincent’s frankly ridiculous ability to turn into a flying red cape in Advent Children. I've no idea if/how they explained that one but it just seems highly implausible, even in a Final Fantasy 'verse.


End file.
